- More than 100 student teams from countries across Asia and Middle East to participate
- Four student teams from Delhi-NCR present their fuel efficient concepts
Fourteen student teams, which will be representing 12 universities across India, are gearing up to hit the streets of Manila, Philippines in February 2014 to compete in the fifth year of Shell Eco-marathon Asia. Four out of these teams representing Delhi Technological University, Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, Gautam Buddha University and Manav Rachna International University are from Delhi-NCR.
The mileage competition will see a record number of participating teams this year, as it moves for the first time from the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to Luneta Park in the heart of Manila (Philippines).
Speaking about Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2014, Dr. Yasmine Hilton, Chairman Shell Companies in India said, “Shell is committed to helping the world meet its growing energy needs in a responsible way. Through Shell Eco-marathon, we are able to bring together current and future leaders on a single global platform to think about sustainable solutions to the world’s energy challenge”.
For this year’s event in Manila, student teams from India will field 11 Prototype and three Urban Concept vehicles, powered by gasoline, diesel, battery and hydrogen.
Team ‘Unfrozen Hawks’ of Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida is excited to present India’s first and only Hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered vehicle participating in Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2014. “We are very excited about the challenge. This project has not only stirred our creativity, but also challenged us to think of practical solutions for the real world. International exposure and opportunity to learn from other universities adds to the experience”, said Sachin Mishra, Team captain, Unfrozen Hawks.
Manav Rachna International University which is participating in Shell Eco-marathon for a third time, is presenting an Urban Concept fuelled by diesel this year. “We are gaining knowledge of cleaner and greener ways of engineering in the world of automobiles and are quite optimistic about winning this challenge”, said Aman Agha, lead, Team Synchromesh of Manav Rachna International University.
The car designed by team DTU Supermileage of Delhi Technological University includes a compact rack-pinion steering and a fuel efficient engine that uses gears for maximizing fuel efficiency. “We have used gasoline as the fuel since we believe that dependence on gasoline in passenger vehicles industry is still high and it would be beneficial to the industry if solutions to maximize fuel efficiency in this category are presented” said Chitrarth Lav, team captain, Delhi Technological University.
The all-girls team in the Indian contingent from Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women is keen to present its concept at the challenge. “We have used a bamboo chassis for our design and are quite proud of it. This competition has provided students an important platform to showcase their ideas and inspire practical thinking”, said Ishita Sehgal, team captain of ‘Team Resonance’, Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, New Delhi
Other participating teams from India include VIT University, Vellore; Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai; SRM University, Chennai; Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Bangalore; K.J.Somaiya College Of Engineering, Mumbai; Lovely Professional University, Phagwara; National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar; Chitkara Institute of Engineering & Technology, Rajpura.
For more information on all Shell Eco-marathon events across the globe, including official rules, instructions for registration and details on prizes, please visit the Shell Eco-marathon website atwww.shell.com/ecomarathon.